NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

This full view of the giant asteroid Vesta was taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, as part of a rotation characterization sequence on July 24, 2011, at a distance of 3,200 miles (5,200 kilometers). A rotation characterization sequence helps the scientists and engineers by giving an initial overview of the character of the surface as Vesta rotated underneath the spacecraft. This view of Vesta shows impact craters of various sizes and troughs parallel to the equator. The resolution of this image is about 500 meters per pixel.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

Moffett Field, Calif. -- NASA will hold a media teleconference at 11 a.m. PST, Thursday, Feb. 7, to discuss an asteroid 150-feet in diameter that will pass close, but safely, by Earth on Feb. 15. The flyby creates a unique opportunity for researchers to observe and learn more about asteroids.

The teleconference participants are:
--Lindley Johnson, program executive, Near-Earth Object (NEO) Observations Program, NASA Headquarters, Washington
--Timothy Spahr, director, Minor Planet Center, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Mass.
--Donald Yeomans, manager, NEO Office, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif.
--Amy Mainzer, principal investigator, NEOWISE observatory, JPL
--Edward Beshore, deputy principal investigator, Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer Asteroid Sample Return Mission, University of Arizona, Tucson

Reporters can obtain dial-in information by sending an email to Dwayne Brown at dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov by 9 a.m. PST Thursday. Requests must include the reporter's name, affiliation and telephone number.

Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live at:

http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

Related images for the teleconference will be available at:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/asteroids/news/telecon20130207.html

For detailed information concerning the Earth flyby of 2012 DA14, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/asteroidflyby.html

To experience the Earth flyby from the asteroid's point of view, visit:

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/eyes/

A Ustream feed of the flyby from a telescope at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will be broadcast from 9 p.m. to midnight EST on Feb. 15. To view the feed and ask researchers questions via Twitter about the flyby, visit:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-msfc

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Text issued as NASA Ames release 13-09M Rachel Hoover / Karen Jenvey
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-6982
rachel.hoover@nasa.gov / karen.jenvey@nasa.gov

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov